The Passage

30“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.31If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

(John 5:30–35)

The Notes

The Law given by Moses in the Old Testament required that all work should cease by sundown on Friday. To uphold this requirement, religious leaders in Israel followed strict guidelines that regulated what could and could not be done on Saturdays.

While in Jerusalem, Jesus healed a disabled man on the Sabbath. When the religious leaders complained, Jesus responded, “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (Jn 5:17).​In this discourse, Jesus explained that His ministry has ultimate authority because it proceeds directly from Father to Son, from God to Himself.

The Terms

“judge” [krinō]: (1) to make a selection, select, prefer; (2) to pass judgment upon (and thereby seek to influence) the lives and actions of other people; (2a) judge, pass judgment upon, express an opinion about; (2b) pass an unfavorable judgment upon, criticize, find fault with, condemn; (3) to make a judgment based on taking various factors into account; (4) to come to a conclusion after a cognitive process, reach a decision; (5) to engage in a judicial process, judge, decide, hale before a court, condemn, also hand over for judicial punishment; (6) to ensure justice for someone, see to it that justice is done.

William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer,A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 567–69.

“just” [dikaios]: (1) pertaining to being in accordance with high standards of rectitude, upright, just, fair; (2) The neuter denotes that which is obligatory in view of certain requirements of justice, right, fair, equitable.

William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer,A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 246–47.

“will” [thelēma]: (1) what one wishes to happen, objective sense, what is willed; (2) the act of willing or desiring, subjective sense, will.

William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer,A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 447.

“sent” [pemtō]: (1) to dispatch someone, whether human or transcendent being, usually for purposes of communication; (2) to dispatch something through an intermediary.

William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer,A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 794.

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